Alert staffer detects crack on tracks, saves Rajdhani

:An alert track maintenance staffer serving with the Dhanbad rail division in Jharkhand averted a major train accident after he detected a fracture on tracks minutes before the Sealdah-bound Rajdhani Express was to cross on them. Closely following Sealdah was the Howrah Rajdhani Express.

Both the trains were already running late by over an hour.

Railway public works inspector Satya Prakash quickly informed the station master of Choudharibandh railway station, who acted accordingly and got the oncoming trains stopped.

Dhanbad divisional spokesperson Md Shafi confirmed the incident and lauded Prakash’s presence of mind. He said that the team would be awarded by the divisional officers.

A humble Prakash said he is not the real hero. “A trackman, Dinesh, first saw the fracture and alerted me. Later, I did what was expected of me. I am happy things went as per plan,” he said.

The spokesperson said movement of trains remained affected on the down route between Dhanbad-Gaya section for around one and a half hours on Thursday morning after the fracture was detected near Chi-

DHANBAD

A driverless electric train engine travelled for about 13km from Wadi station in this Maharashtra district before being stopped by a staff who chased it on a motorbike.

Mirroring a script straight out of a movie, the employee caught up with the engine, jumped on it and applied the brakes.

Trouble started after the Chennai-Mumbai train arrived at Wadi junction around 3pm on Wednesday, where its electric engine was to be swapped with a diesel one, officials said. The route from Wadi to

chaki railway station under the Dhanbad railway division.

“The incident was reported at 7 am. The men took about an hour and a half for repair works and cleared the route for traffic.”

Other trains plying on the route, including Gangasatluj Express closely behind the two Rajdhani Express, were Solapur in Maharashtra is not electrified.

The diesel engine was attached to the train which continued its journey to Solapur, the officials said. In the meantime, due to what is being described as a slip-up, the disengaged electric engine started moving on its own after the loco pilot alighted from it.

As the stunned pilot looked on, the Wadi station authorities alerted the next few stations to clear the tracks.

As the engine cruised, the staff gave a chase on a motorbike, managed to board it when it slowed and stopped it near Nalwar. By then, the engine had run for about 13km.

KALABURAGI:

detained at different stations.

Incidentally, this is the second such incident on one of the busiest Gaya- Howrah route spotted within 48 hours. On Wednesday morning, a similar fracture was detected by maintenance staff, Zaffar Imam, near Kalipahari station minutes before Howrah Ranchi Shatabdi was to cross.